Events
Past Events
Securing Canada's Digital Sovereignty: A New Playbook for Youth Online Safety
April 30, 2026 · Conference · National Arts Centre, 1 Elgin St, Ottawa
Chatbots and AI companions are becoming everyday fixtures for young people, while platforms and policymakers grapple with harmful content, addictive design, and the limits of existing safeguards. With Canada's online safety legislation still unfinished after Parliament's 2025 prorogation, this event brought together youth advocates, policy experts, and researchers to assess the policy landscape and chart potential legislative pathways, with a focus on chatbot safety, age assurance, and youth-focused platform governance.
Gen(Z)AI: Ottawa Plenary
April 30, 2026 · Conference · Sir John A. MacDonald Building, 144 Wellington Street, Ottawa
Culmination of Gen(Z)AI: Canada's Youth Assembly on Artificial Intelligence, a seven-month initiative bringing together young Canadians from four cities to deliberate on and draft policy recommendations for AI governance. Participants presented 17 recommendations directly to policymakers and government officials, including Ministers Marc Miller and Evan Solomon, at this plenary in Ottawa.
Left To Their Own Devices: A Conversation with Jonathan Haidt and Ava Smithing
March 31, 2026 · Conference · Lee C. Bollinger Forum, New York City
Co-hosted with Paradigms and The Attention Studio, this event featured social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, in conversation with Ava Smithing, Gen Z host of the Left to Their Own Devices podcast. The discussion explored tensions between recent policy responses to youth online safety — social media bans, phone-free schools — and what young people actually want, followed by an audience Q&A and a community organization showcase on digital rights and youth advocacy.
Securing Canada's Digital Sovereignty: AI and the Growing Economy of Fraud
December 4, 2025 · Conference · Global Centre for Pluralism, Ottawa
Workshop on AI-enabled financial fraud. Generative AI has opened a new frontier for financial crime — deepfakes, cloned voices, AI-generated content used to impersonate public figures and fabricate investment opportunities. MEO monitoring of the federal election uncovered AI-generated fake CBC stories promoting crypto scams. With the Finance Minister's new anti-fraud strategy and Financial Crime Agency creation, Canada is at an inflection point.
Attention: Govern or Be Governed
October 23, 2025 · Conference · Rialto Theatre, 5723 Avenue du Parc, Montreal
Two-day conference. The internet was sold as a force for connection but platforms designed to maximize attention, not safety, pulled us apart. Two critical shifts: the explosive rise of generative AI, and a newly radicalized United States as an active obstacle to regulation. Invites lawmakers, academics, civil society leaders, journalists, creatives, and technologists to address whether democracies can still govern in the digital age.
Securing Canada's Digital Sovereignty: A new agenda takes shape
June 11, 2025 · Conference · O'Born Room, NAC, 1 Elgin Street, Ottawa
Rising foreign interference, disinformation, and infrastructure vulnerabilities threaten Canada's sovereignty. Critical bills on election security, child safety, privacy, and platform accountability failed before Parliament was prorogued. Discussion on how Canada's new government can reset and define a new agenda for digital sovereignty.
Societal Challenges Presented by Social Media
September 23, 2024 · Conference · University Centre, Room 203, 3480 McTavish, Montreal
Conversation between Frances Haugen (former Facebook whistleblower) and Ava Smithing on platforms, policy, and protecting young people online. Discussion of their roles in the global movement for digital rights and wellbeing.
Charting the Course: Navigating Climate Justice in the Digital Age
June 10, 2024 · Conference · Centre PHI, 407 Rue Saint-Pierre, Montreal
Full-day event exploring the intersection of climate justice and digital technology. Examines what media ecosystems contribute to climate justice versus fueling misinformation. Launches a Climate & Technology Essay Series with four panels.
Bill C-63 Unpacked: Making the Internet Safer for Kids
April 25, 2024 · Roundtable · Virtual
Dives into how Bill C-63 requires social media platforms to minimize exposure to seven kinds of online harms, responsibly design products for children, and immediately take down intimate images shared without consent and CSAM.
Bill C-63 Unpacked: Criminal Code and Human Rights Act Hate Speech Amendments
March 27, 2024 · Webinar · CMTD, 680 Sherbrooke St. W., 6th Floor, Montreal
Unpacks proposed amendments to the Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act. Addresses whether Bill C-63 criminalizes thoughts, life in prison for hate crimes, and the value and risk of reintroducing hate speech to a human rights tribunal.
Virtual Roundtable on the Online Harms Act
March 1, 2024 · Roundtable · Virtual
Virtual roundtable discussing initial reactions to the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63) by five members of the Expert Advisory Group on Online Safety to the Government of Canada. First in a series of conversations on the bill.
Evolving U.S. Media Perceptions of Canada in a Changing World
September 27, 2023 · Conference · Centre Mont-Royal, 2200 Mansfield Street, Montreal
Panel examining how Canadian journalists working for U.S. media outlets cover Canada for American audiences. Explores evolving U.S. media perceptions of Canada and how reporting has transformed over time.
Youth Assembly on Digital Rights and Safety
June 27, 2023 · Workshop · Canadian Museum for Human Rights, 85 Israel Asper Way, Winnipeg
Gathering of 39 Canadian 18-year-olds to discuss how they understand, interact with, and hope to change online platforms. Participants spoke with academic experts and policymakers and shared their own experiences of the digital world.
The Platform Governance Research Network Conference 2023
April 3, 2023 · Webinar · Virtual
Virtual conference on "Imagining Sustainable, Trustworthy, and Democratic Platform Governance." Sessions covered regulation of labour platforms to content moderation in global context.
Digital Policy Rounds: Mis/disinformation and the question of authenticity
March 16, 2023 · Webinar · CMTD, 680 Sherbrooke St. W., 6th Floor, Montreal
Digital Policy Rounds session on misinformation and the question of authenticity in digital media.
Election quebecoise de 2022: Information et politique dans l'apres-COVID et l'apres-Trump
March 15, 2023 · Roundtable · McGill Faculty Club, 3450 Rue McTavish, Montreal
Entre méfiance, désinformation et cohésion sociale, cette table ronde discute des conséquences de la pandémie et du trumpisme sur le paysage politique et médiatique québécois.
Digital Policy Rounds: Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence
February 16, 2023 · Webinar · CMTD, 680 Sherbrooke St. W., 6th Floor, Montreal
Digital Policy Rounds session on technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
Digital Policy Rounds: Health Communications
January 19, 2023 · Webinar · CMTD, 680 Sherbrooke St. W., 6th Floor, Montreal
Digital Policy Rounds session on health communications in the digital age.
Digital Policy Rounds: Climate Justice, Tech & Media
December 15, 2022 · Webinar · CMTD, 680 Sherbrooke St. W., 6th Floor, Montreal
Addresses how digital technology and climate policy remain disconnected despite global governance efforts. Examines "Green AI" marketed as sustainable without transparency, environmental costs of digital systems, and intersection of digital rights and climate justice.
Digital Policy Rounds: Polarization & Radicalization
November 17, 2022 · Webinar · Virtual
Hate crimes in Canada are on the rise, as are concerns that the country is polarizing. The pandemic has revealed both new and longstanding global movements of radicalization and violent extremism, often enabled by our digital ecosystem.
2022 Annual Beaverbrook Lecture
October 19, 2022 · Lecture · PHI Centre, 315 Rue Saint-Paul Ouest, Montreal
Annual Beaverbrook Lecture on free speech and social media regulation. The Supreme Court of the United States is set to consider two cases involving Florida and Texas social media laws. Examines why we protect free speech, whether it remains valuable, and which regulations warrant support.
Global Governance of Online Harms: Conference
October 19, 2022 · Conference · CMTD, 680 Sherbrooke St. W., 6th Floor, Montreal
Conference on global coordination and new international regimes for online regulation. No single government can effectively protect democratic values from the triple impact of transnational information flow, asymmetric power of tech companies, and illiberal government behavior.
Saving Social Media: An Evening with Frances Haugen
October 18, 2022 · Conference · Canada 2020 Studio, 35 Rue O'Connor Street, Ottawa
Frances Haugen, former Facebook product manager turned whistleblower, speaks to real policy solutions as the Government of Canada develops its legislative agenda on platform regulation.
Roundtable on Children's Rights & Safety Online
September 28, 2022 · Roundtable · CMTD, 680 Sherbrooke St. W., 6th Floor, Montreal
The rapidly shifting digital landscape is reshaping our society, economy, and democracy. Addresses concerns related to digital privacy, facial recognition and AI technologies impacting children's online safety.
Roundtable on the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act
July 7, 2022 · Roundtable · Virtual
Roundtable on the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), part of Bill C-27. Discusses regulating AI systems, "high-impact" definitions, accountability gaps, and impacts on racialized and LGBTQ+ communities.
Roundtable on the Online News Act (Bill C-18)
April 14, 2022 · Roundtable · CMTD, 680 Sherbrooke St. W., 6th Floor, Montreal
Discussion of the Online News Act (Bill C-18), which compels digital platforms to engage with outlets and pay for news content, following Australia's News Media Bargaining Code model.
The Present and Future of Misinformation in Canada
March 29, 2022 · Roundtable · Virtual
Media Ecosystem Observatory roundtable moderated by Centre Director Taylor Owen on how political misinformation threatens Canadian democracy and how best to combat it. Panelists Holly Ann Garnett, Gallit Dobner, Colette Brin, Justin Ling, and Aengus Bridgman discussed the fractionalization of the media ecosystem, lessons from the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, and the need for digital literacy and international coordination to guard against misinformation.
“Discriminating Data” Book Discussion with Wendy Hui Kyong Chun
November 30, 2021 · Book-talk · Online
Research Director Sonja Solomun spoke with Wendy Hui Kyong Chun about her newly published book Discriminating Data: Correlation, Neighborhoods, and the New Politics of Recognition (MIT Press). The book argues that polarization is a goal, not an error, within big data and machine learning, showing how correlation, homophily-driven recommender systems, and technologies of recognition encode segregation, eugenics, and identity politics through their default assumptions. Chun calls for alternative algorithms, defaults, and interdisciplinary coalitions to desegregate networks and foster a more democratic big data.
National Approaches to Online Harms Regulations
October 26, 2021 · Webinar · Virtual
Webinar co-hosted with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), chaired by Research Director Sonja Solomun, bringing together regulators and researchers from Canada, the UK, Germany, Brazil, and the US to compare national online harms bills — including the UK Online Safety Bill and Germany's NetzDG — and the accountability mechanisms, transparency requirements, and free-expression tradeoffs they raise.
Our Social Dilemma: Confronting Online Harms in Canada
October 15, 2021 · Webinar · Virtual
Virtual panel and Q&A on the Government of Canada's proposed legislation to address illegal online content, launched alongside the Cybersecure Policy Exchange's report Rebuilding Canada's Public Square. Panelists Amira Elghawaby, Emily Laidlaw, and Raegan MacDonald joined moderator Taylor Owen to discuss regulatory options for hate speech and disinformation on social media while protecting Canadians' rights and freedoms.
Online Disinformation Risks: Issues for Canadian News Media and Advertisers
October 12, 2021 · Webinar · Virtual
Report launch with the Digital Democracies Institute (SFU) and the Centre d'études sur les médias (Laval) on how ad-funded revenue incentivizes disinformation on Canadian news websites. Panelists including Ron Lund, Jean LaRose, Michel Cormier, Kathy English, Clare Melford, and Aengus Bridgman discussed the Global Disinformation Index's risk-rating framework and its implications for advertisers and platforms.
Media Capture: How Money, Digital Platforms & Governments Control the News
May 26, 2021 · Book-talk · Virtual
Discussion of the book Media Capture, featuring contributors Emily Bell, Felix Salmon, Joshua Marshall, Joel Simon, and Nikki Usher on how formerly independent media outlets fall under the sway of governments, plutocrats, and tech platforms worldwide, and what policy responses and sustainable models could protect public-interest journalism.
Supporting Journalism: Should Countries Copy Australia's News Media Bargaining Code?
April 15, 2021 · Webinar · Virtual
Director Taylor Owen and Columbia's Anya Schiffrin spoke with Rod Sims, architect of Australia's News Media Bargaining Code, and competition regulators from Germany, the UK, South Africa, France, and Canada about whether the Code — which requires Google and Facebook to pay for news — could or should be replicated elsewhere, and the risk of capture if platforms fund journalism directly.
Regulating the Internet: Can Canadian Democracy Save Big Tech?
March 31, 2021 · Webinar · Virtual
Panel discussion hosted with the Max Bell School of Public Policy, moderated by Taylor Owen, between former Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin and journalist Andrew Coyne on whether government should regulate online platforms in the wake of incidents like the January 6 Capitol riot, or whether addressing digital harms is better left to markets and civil society.
Saving Journalism: What Can We Learn From Other Countries?
March 25, 2021 · Webinar · Virtual
Webinar launching Anya Schiffrin's report Saving Journalism: A Vision for the Post-Covid World. Taylor Owen and Schiffrin spoke with Steve Waldman, Julia Cagé, and Edward Greenspon about global approaches to supporting news outlets, from tax subsidies and philanthropic funding to new bargaining laws between publishers and platforms.
Against Platform Determinism Workshop with Data & Society
March 3, 2021 · Workshop · Virtual
Second in an academic workshop series hosted with Data & Society, led by Research Director Sonja Solomun, Research Fellow Rachel Bergmann, and Director Taylor Owen, examining how platform governance is shaped through interactions with users, industry actors, civil society, and infrastructure rather than solely dictated by platform companies themselves.
Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy WTF/WFH Virtual Reading Group: Democracy is 20/20
January 28, 2021 · Workshop · Virtual
Monthly virtual reading group led by Research Director Sonja Solomun exploring the current crisis of digital democracy through academic and journalistic accounts of surveillance capitalism, disinformation, polarization, and platform power, convened with authors including Tim Hwang and Becca Lewis.
Coded Bias Q&A with Filmmaker Shalini Kantayya and Universal Declaration of Data Rights as Human Rights
January 26, 2021 · Webinar · Virtual
Q&A with Shalini Kantayya, director of the documentary Coded Bias, which follows MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini's discovery of racial bias in facial recognition technology. The Centre supported the accompanying Universal Declaration of Data Rights as Human Rights, a public call for data protection and limits on biased surveillance technology.
2020 Beaverbrook Annual Lectures: Responding to Surveillance Capitalism
November 23, 2020 · Lecture · Online
A two-part 2020 Beaverbrook Annual Public Lecture on responding to surveillance capitalism, hosted online by the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy. Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, delivered “The Future of Surveillance Capitalism” on November 23, with a Q&A moderated by Jonathan Sterne. Cory Doctorow delivered “How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism” on November 30, moderated by Gabriella Coleman. Both lectures were free, open to the public, and generously supported by the Beaverbrook Foundation.
Platforms for Harm?
September 21, 2020 · Webinar · Virtual
Panel co-hosted with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. Director Taylor Owen joined Rita Trichur, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Daniel Bernhard, and Heidi Tworek to discuss the state of platform governance and how free speech and the rule of law can coexist in managing harmful online content.
Digital Surveillance and Covid-19 Tracing Apps: A Canadian Analysis
June 30, 2020 · Webinar · Virtual
Panel hosted by the Canadian International Council (Montreal), the MIGS centre at Concordia University, and Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, featuring Sonja Solomun and Simon Hogue on the global rise of COVID-19 contact-tracing apps and surveillance measures, and their privacy implications and effects on democratic values.